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Phenological changes in bamboo carbohydrates explain the preference for culm over leaves by giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) during spring

Seasonal changes in the foodscape force herbivores to select different plant species or plant parts to meet nutritional requirements. We examined whether the search for calorie-rich carbohydrates explained giant panda’s selection for bamboo culm over leaves during spring. Leaves and culms were colle...

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Autores principales: Knott, Katrina K., Christian, Amelia L., Falcone, Josephine F., Vance, Carrie K., Bauer, Laura L., Fahey, George C., Kouba, Andrew J.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5470666/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28614359
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0177582
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author Knott, Katrina K.
Christian, Amelia L.
Falcone, Josephine F.
Vance, Carrie K.
Bauer, Laura L.
Fahey, George C.
Kouba, Andrew J.
author_facet Knott, Katrina K.
Christian, Amelia L.
Falcone, Josephine F.
Vance, Carrie K.
Bauer, Laura L.
Fahey, George C.
Kouba, Andrew J.
author_sort Knott, Katrina K.
collection PubMed
description Seasonal changes in the foodscape force herbivores to select different plant species or plant parts to meet nutritional requirements. We examined whether the search for calorie-rich carbohydrates explained giant panda’s selection for bamboo culm over leaves during spring. Leaves and culms were collected from four Phyllostachys bamboos (P. aurea, P. aureosulcata, P. glauca, and P. nuda) once per month over 18–27 months. Monthly changes in annual plant part nutrients were examined, and compared to seasonal foraging behaviors of captive giant pandas. Although total fiber was greater (p<0.0001) in culm (85.6 ± 0.5%) than leaves (55.3 ± 0.4%) throughout the year, culm fiber was at its lowest in spring (79–85%) when culm selection by giant pandas exceeded 70% of their overall diet. Culm starch also was greatest (p = 0.044) during spring (5.5 ± 1.1%) and 2.5-fold the percentage of starch in leaves (2.2 ± 0.6%). The free sugars in spring culm consisted of a high proportion of glucose (35%) and fructose (47%), whereas sucrose made up 42% of the total free sugar content of spring leaves. Bound sugars in culm consisted of 60% glucose and 38% xylose likely representative of hemicellulose. The concentrations of bound sugars (hemicelluloses) in spring culms (543.7 ± 13.0 mg/g) was greater (p<0.001) than in leaves (373.0 ± 14.8 mg/g). These data help explain a long-standing question in giant panda foraging ecology: why consume the plant part with the lowest protein and fat during the energetically intensive spring breeding season? Giant pandas likely prefer spring culm that contains abundant mono- and polysaccharides made more bioavailable as a result of reduced fiber content. These data suggest that phenological changes in bamboo plant part nutrition drive foraging decisions by giant pandas.
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spelling pubmed-54706662017-07-03 Phenological changes in bamboo carbohydrates explain the preference for culm over leaves by giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) during spring Knott, Katrina K. Christian, Amelia L. Falcone, Josephine F. Vance, Carrie K. Bauer, Laura L. Fahey, George C. Kouba, Andrew J. PLoS One Research Article Seasonal changes in the foodscape force herbivores to select different plant species or plant parts to meet nutritional requirements. We examined whether the search for calorie-rich carbohydrates explained giant panda’s selection for bamboo culm over leaves during spring. Leaves and culms were collected from four Phyllostachys bamboos (P. aurea, P. aureosulcata, P. glauca, and P. nuda) once per month over 18–27 months. Monthly changes in annual plant part nutrients were examined, and compared to seasonal foraging behaviors of captive giant pandas. Although total fiber was greater (p<0.0001) in culm (85.6 ± 0.5%) than leaves (55.3 ± 0.4%) throughout the year, culm fiber was at its lowest in spring (79–85%) when culm selection by giant pandas exceeded 70% of their overall diet. Culm starch also was greatest (p = 0.044) during spring (5.5 ± 1.1%) and 2.5-fold the percentage of starch in leaves (2.2 ± 0.6%). The free sugars in spring culm consisted of a high proportion of glucose (35%) and fructose (47%), whereas sucrose made up 42% of the total free sugar content of spring leaves. Bound sugars in culm consisted of 60% glucose and 38% xylose likely representative of hemicellulose. The concentrations of bound sugars (hemicelluloses) in spring culms (543.7 ± 13.0 mg/g) was greater (p<0.001) than in leaves (373.0 ± 14.8 mg/g). These data help explain a long-standing question in giant panda foraging ecology: why consume the plant part with the lowest protein and fat during the energetically intensive spring breeding season? Giant pandas likely prefer spring culm that contains abundant mono- and polysaccharides made more bioavailable as a result of reduced fiber content. These data suggest that phenological changes in bamboo plant part nutrition drive foraging decisions by giant pandas. Public Library of Science 2017-06-14 /pmc/articles/PMC5470666/ /pubmed/28614359 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0177582 Text en © 2017 Knott et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Knott, Katrina K.
Christian, Amelia L.
Falcone, Josephine F.
Vance, Carrie K.
Bauer, Laura L.
Fahey, George C.
Kouba, Andrew J.
Phenological changes in bamboo carbohydrates explain the preference for culm over leaves by giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) during spring
title Phenological changes in bamboo carbohydrates explain the preference for culm over leaves by giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) during spring
title_full Phenological changes in bamboo carbohydrates explain the preference for culm over leaves by giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) during spring
title_fullStr Phenological changes in bamboo carbohydrates explain the preference for culm over leaves by giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) during spring
title_full_unstemmed Phenological changes in bamboo carbohydrates explain the preference for culm over leaves by giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) during spring
title_short Phenological changes in bamboo carbohydrates explain the preference for culm over leaves by giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) during spring
title_sort phenological changes in bamboo carbohydrates explain the preference for culm over leaves by giant pandas (ailuropoda melanoleuca) during spring
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5470666/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28614359
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0177582
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